Setting a stylish holiday table can be challenging enough; if you're trying to keep your costs down, that can add another layer of stress. The trick is to get creative and resourceful. Easier said than done? That's why we asked three local style experts to devise a table with items procured from wallet-friendly places such as the dollar store or grocery store - along with some basics already in their possession. With their designs as a guide, you can impress your dinner guests without making a big dent in your holiday shopping budget.

Noel Advincula

Food stylist Noel Advincula is a self-professed dollar-store junkie. From the 99 Cents Only in Berkeley to shops such as Daiso and Ichiban Kan in San Francisco's Japantown, he can see the potential in the seemingly mundane.

"I like to buy things and then turn them into something else that's different and cool," he said, joking that his hot-glue gun is his best friend. Unable to find a table runner that fit the nature-inspired scheme he was going for, Advincula fashioned one out of patterned shelf liner, kraft paper and brown ribbon - all from the dollar store.

His best score, he said, was the gold wire he discovered in the craft department. (The wire came in 6-foot lengths, and he needed a total of eight packets.) "I knew I hit the jackpot. I used it to decorate my hanging votives, and then echoed the design by making my own napkin rings using the same wire and some felt." At Daiso, the votives were packaged as spice jars and sold in pairs; the felt was also purchased there.

The rhinestone-encrusted baubles suspended from the votives came from Ichiban Kan. Although their intended purpose was unclear, that didn't deter Advincula; he concluded that they would add just the right amount of sparkle to his table. "If you like something, you just have to buy it," he noted. "If you don't buy it and try to go back for it later, it'll probably be gone." In the dollar-store world, the "get it while you can" approach definitely applies.

With the exception of the silverware and napkins - which he already owned - everything on the table was just a buck each. Yes, even the plates and bowls. Advincula also took advantage of the garden in his Oakland Hills home, bringing in succulents for the centerpiece; he tucked them into amber-hued ceramic tea cups from Daiso. The red berries and flowers interspersed with the succulents were $5 for a bundle at Trader Joe's.

The manzanita branch was plucked from his own decor, but Advincula suggested that the look could be replicated by chopping a branch from a tree, or making a trip to a farmers' market or florist. "It's not that expensive, and definitely worth the price," he said. "It can be used as a year-round decoration around the house."

The stylist does have one rule he adheres to when scouring discount stores: "No plastic!" he said. "We want cheap, but don't want it to look cheap."

Erica Tanov

For months, every day on her way to pick up her son from school, the vibrant garlands in the window of an Indian supermarket called out to fashion designer Erica Tanov. Located less than a mile from her shop in Berkeley, Bombay Spice House is filled with colorful wares - making it the perfect spot for Tanov to start her tabletop shopping.

"It doesn't matter if you serve Indian food or not," she pointed out, as she headed toward the window display. At $17, the price of the 4-foot-long garland initially gave her pause; but she reasoned that it would hang above the table and act as a focal point of her design. (Plus, it could be used again later.) In addition to the garland, Tanov walked out of the store with candleholders that cost $6 for a set of four.

At Roopam Sarees, just down the street on University Avenue, she purchased three yards of a $5-per-yard pink-and-gold floral fabric. It became her table runner, layered beneath an embroidered, vintage scarf she discovered in a dollar bin at the Alameda flea market awhile back.

On the shelves at Milan International, Tanov found stainless steel cups with a brass trim. Since they were a bit dinged up, she was able to negotiate the price - paying $1.50 each, half of the marked price. She used the cups as vases, filling them with camellias from her garden. Tanov also considered buying canned food with colorful labels to repurpose as vases. But "the brass on the cups will bring out the gold in the fabric," she said.

Also at Milan, Tanov picked up some small, multicolored garlands that she casually tied around the napkins. "I love a good party favor, so my intent here was that my guests would wear them as necklaces, or however they chose, during dinner and then take them home," she said.

The fennel candy she bought - it was $4 for a 1-pound bag of the green, white, pink and yellow sugar-coated fennel seeds - were served in small gold-rimmed dishes that she owned (and were less than a dollar at an estate sale). The glasses, silverware and plates were already hers as well.

The backdrop for the entire table was a piece of white linen cut from a bolt that Tanov had on hand. The napkins were 19-inch squares of the same fabric; she machine-stitched the edges in hot pink and orange to create a two-tone detail.

"The only element I had in mind (when I was shopping) was the garland from Bombay Spice House," says Tanov. "I mostly selected things I liked and then decided what to do with them once I got home. I figured it would all come together."

Who knew that the grocery store could provide so much tabletop inspiration? Miranda Jones, the style editor at Sunset, did. Browsing the aisles at Draeger's in Menlo Park - a short drive from the magazine's headquarters - the ideas just kept coming to her.

Maybe a mixture of squashes and chestnuts sprinkled down the middle of the table. The small silver paper candy cups from the baking section could hold individual servings of salt and pepper. Sprigs of rosemary tied with natural twine might make simple yet elegant napkin rings.

And these were the ideas she didn't incorporate in her final design.

The theme for Jones' table was "autumn splendor," she said, adding that her design was "influenced by the season." Hence the grocery store as her primary source, mixed with objects she owned - like the Heath Ceramics dishes, wine glasses, silverware and tablecloth.

In lieu of traditional name cards, Jones opted for Seckle pears speared with little pennants made from slips of card stock and party picks from Pick On Us ("Best website ever," she enthused). The orange hue of the West Elm napkins is carried over in the herb-filled terra cotta pots lining the center of the table; Jones' choices included rosemary and oregano.

The tea lights in the inexpensive glass Ikea votives were nestled among fresh cranberries. Orange winter berries were placed inside a couple of empty wine bottles that hold taper candles; Draeger's sells the berries at its flower station and the candles nearby.

Perhaps the piece de resistance is the paper runner, which Jones bought at West Elm. The 20-inch-wide design, called Cook's Tools, is sold in a 50-foot roll and was on sale for $23. Since the paper is meant to be cut to the length of your table, there's plenty left over for future gatherings.

"Having a paper runner adds another layer to the table without making it more formal," said Jones. "Plus, if you have a drippy candle like I did, it makes cleanup a lot easier."

In the end, some of the items in Jones' shopping basket - such as the medley of squash and a handful of turkey-shaped chocolates - didn't make it on to the table. "It was just about seeing what worked together," she said of the decision to buy a few extra things. "The other stuff won't go to waste though - I'll eat it!"